Completed Reading List 2018

Here is my reading list for 2018

Completed:

1. On Writing - Stephen King (audiobook started 1/1 finished 1/9) 6/10
2. Catalyst - James Luceno (e-book started 12/30/17 finished 1/6) 6/10
3. From Cradle to Stage - Virginia Hanlon Grohl (e-book started 1/6 finished 1/14) 6/10
4. Why We Sleep - Matthew Walker (audiobook started 1/9 finished 1/16) 10/10
5. Japan 1941 Countdown To Infamy - Eri Hotta (audiobook started 1/17 finished 1/30) 9/10 
6. Grape, Olive, Pig - Matt Goulding (e-book started 1/16 finished 1/31) 8/10 
7. Sting-Ray Afternoons - Steve Rushin (e-book started 1/27 finished 2/10) 6/10
8. The Death of Expertise - Tom Nichols (audiobook started 2/2 finished 2/11) 8/10
9. It Was Me All Along - Andie Mitchell (audiobook started 2/12 finished 2/18) 9/10
10. Promise Me, Dad - Joe Biden (e-book started 2/19 finished 2/21) 9/10
11. The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro (audiobook started 2/19 finished 3/3) 10/10
12. James and the Giant Peach - Roald Dahl (book started 3/3 finished 3/3) 8/10
13. Nocturnes - Kazuo Ishiguro (book started 3/6 finished 3/8) 7/10
14. Love Her Wild - Atticus (e-book started 3/9 finished 3/10) 10/10
15. The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald (audiobook started 3/6 finished 3/17) 8/10
16. Ghosts of the Tsunami - Richard Lloyd Parry (audiobook started 3/19 finished 3/29) 8/10
17. Flow -  Mihaly Csikszentmihaly (e-book started 3/22 finished 4/4) 10/10
18. Understanding Japan - Mark J. Ravina (audiobook started 3/29 finished 4/5) 10/10
19. Ikigai - Hector Garcia (e-book started 4/7 finished 4/10) 10/10 
20. The History of Love - Nicole Strauss (e-book started 4/11 finished 4/12) 10/10
21. Socrates in 90 Minutes (audiobook started 4/12 finished 4/12) 10/10
22. Animal Farm - George Orwell (audiobook started 4/16 finished 4/18) 7/10
23. Churchill and Orwell - Thomas E. Ricks (e-book started 4/16 finished 4/20) 8/10
24. The Life Changing Magic of Not Giving A Fuck (e-book started 5/15 finished 5/21) 7/10 
25. Thrive - Dan Buettner (audiobook started 5/15 finished 5/26) 7/10
26. Mr. Lincoln: The Life of Abraham Lincoln (audiobook started 5/28 finished 6/8) 9/10
27. Lying - Sam Harris (e-book started 6/17 finished 6/17) 9/10
28. They Call Me Supermensch - Shep Gordon (audiobook started 6/8 finished 6/21) 9/10
29. Team of Rivals - Doris Kearns Goodwin (audiobook started 6/30 finished 7/7) 10/10
30. A Higher Loyalty - James Comey (e-book started 6/30 finished 7/7) 10/10
31. Aristotle in 90 Minutes - (audiobook started 7/8 finished 7/8) 8/10
32. Aristotle For Everybody - Mortimer J. Adler (audiobook started 7/9 finished 7/15 6/10
33. Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro (audiobook started 7/12 finished 7/24) 10/10
34. What I Believe - Bertrand Russell (audiobook started 7/25 finished 7/28) 10/10 
35. The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins (audiobook started 7/29 finished 8/4) 10/10
36. Depression and Other Magic Tricks - Sabrina Benaim (e-book started 8/5 finished 8/7) 6/10
37. Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins (audiobook started 8/6 finished 8/20) 9/10
38. Captivate - Vanessa Van Edwards (audiobook started 8/21 finished 8/28) 10/10
39. Man's Search For Meaning - Viktor E. Frankl (audiobook started 8/29 finished 9/1) 10/10
40. Mockingjay - Suzanne Collins (audiobook started 9/2 finished 9/14) 9/10
41. Kitchen Confidential - Anthony Bourdain (audiobook started 9/15 finished 9/25) 6/10
42. Why Buddhism is True - Robert Wright (e-book started 9/12 finished 10/1) 8/10 
43. Supersurvivors - David B. Feldman (audiobook started 9/27 finished 10/10) 10/10
44. Fulfilled - Anna Yusim, MD (e-book started 8/6 finished 10/14) 8/10
45. 21 Lessons for the 21st Century - Yuval Noah Harari (audiobook started 10/15 finished 11/3) 9/10
46. Born A Crime - Trevor Noah (audiobook started 10/11 finished 11/4) 10/10
47. The Art of Stillness - Pico Iyer (audiobook started 11/5 finished 11/7) 8/10
48. Big Magic - Elizabeth Gilbert (audiobook started 11/8 finished 11/16) 8/10
49. Black Kkklansman - Ron Stallworth (audiobook started 11/20 finished #/##) #/10

Way too much good new albums coming out this year

Jeez, 2018 is turning out to be the most amazing year for new metal releases.  There are tons from some of my favorite bands (Deicide, Behemoth, Soulfly) as well as releases by bands I'm not as familiar with (Harms Way and Jinjer).

Posthuman - Harms Way (February 9, 2018)
Cloud Factory (reissue) - Jinjer (February 16, 2018)
And Justice For None - Five Finger Death Punch (May 18, 2018)
EX_MACHINA - Crossfaith (August 1, 2018)
Head Cage - Pig Destroyer (September 7, 2018)
Scourge of the Enthroned - Krisiun (September 7, 2018)
Overtures of Blasphemy - Deicide (September 14, 2018)
Terrorvision - Aborted (September 21, 2018)
Total Retaliation - Terror (September 28, 2018)
I Loved You At Your Darkest - Behemoth (October 5, 2018)
Battlefields of Asura - Chthonic (October 12, 2018)
Ritual - Soulfly (October 19, 2018)
The Legacy of Shi - Rise of the Northstar (October 19, 2018)
The Book of Suffering - Tome 2 - EP - Cryptopsy (October 26, 2018)
Upon Desolate Sands - Hate Eternal (October 26, 2018)
The Arrow of Satan is Drawn - Bloodbath (October 26, 2018)
Battlefields of Asura - Chthonic (October 12, 2018)
Victim of the New Disease - All That Remains 

Also, here are some things that already came out:
Devouring Mortality - Skeletal Remains
With Inexorable Suffering - Our Place of Worship

Split - Integrity and Krieg

Monument of the End - Soreption

Slaughter Monolith- Abhorrent Deformity
Tu - Alien Weaponry

Then there are some non-metal and heavy rock albums:
And Justice For None - Five Finger Death Punch
Vicious - Halestorm
One Bad M.F. Live!! - Marty Friedman

Fulfilled - Anna Yusim

It took me awhile to finish this book.

I really loved it at around 2/3rds through it.  I loved the parts about living an authentic life and doing a "soul correction".  But in the last (3rd) section, I was immediately turned off.  She talked about some supernatural concepts that I was a little skeptical about - psychic phenomenon, communicating with the dead, etc., and I felt that those things undermined the whole idea of the "science" of spirituality.

I have a hard time enjoying books with endings that I don't like.  I wish I had ended reading this after section 2 - and if I had, I'd give this book an 8 out of 10.  But with the last section, I didn't much like this book.

My favorite books

I was asked by a friend to recommend some books, so here are some of the books that have made lasting impressions on me.  My favorite books of all time are highlighted.

My essential health/wellness/happiness reading list
(Note:  for what it's worth, I've read authors like Jen Sincero, and supposed self-help books that talk about how to get rich and get everything you want like the Law of Attraction or the Seven Spiritual Laws of Success, and they seem to emphasize finding happiness through material wealth and career advancement.  Those books didn't resonate with me at all.  The following books are the exact opposite, as they emphasize finding happiness through kindness, health and wellness, empathy, meditation, purpose, and positive connections with people.)

The Art of Happiness - The Dalai Lama
The Book of Joy - The Dalai Lama and The Archbishop Desmond Tutu
Why We Sleep - Matthew Walker
Emotional Intelligence - Daniel Goleman
The Power of Kindness - Piero Ferrucci
Your Inner Will - Piero Ferrucci
The Blue Zones Solution - Dan Buettner
The Blue Zones - Dan Buettner

Flow -  Mihaly Csikszentmihaly
Ikigai - Hector Garcia  
Captivate - Vanessa Van Edwards 
Man's Search For Meaning - Viktor E. Frankl
Fulfilled - Anna Yusim, MD 
Supersurvivors - David B. Feldman


My favorite fiction

1984 - George Orwell
The Little Prince - Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Never Let Me Go -Kazuo Ishiguro
Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
The Hunger Games series - Suzanne Collins
The History of Love - Nicole Strauss


Great biographies

A Higher Loyalty - James Comey
Dreams From My Father - Barack Obama
The Audacity of Hope - Barack Obama
Troublemaker - Leah Remini
Wild - Cheryl Strayed
The Rainbow Comes and Goes - Gloria Vanderbilt and Anderson Cooper 
Without You There Is No Us - Suki Kim

History and science books

Sapiens - Yuval Noah Harari
Team of Rivals - Doris Kearns Goodwin

Philosophical books

What I Believe - Bertrand Russell
Socrates in 90 Minutes
Tao Te Ching - Lao Tzu 
Why Buddhism Is True - Robert Wright

Books about World War II

Unbroken - Laura Hillebrand
To Hell and Back - Charles Pelligrino
Midnight In Broad Daylight - Pamela Rotner Sakamoto

Beautifully written poetry books

Milk and Honey - Rupi Kaur
The Sun and Her Flowers - Rupi Kaur
Love Her Wild - Atticus

Books about Japan 

Rice Noodle Fish - Matt Goulding
Ghosts of the Tsunami - Richard Lloyd Parry
Understanding Japan - Mark J. Ravina

Kitchen Confidential - Anthony Bourdain

If my enjoyment of this book was analogous to the late Anthony Bourdain being up to bat at a baseball game, it would go something like this.

Pitch 1.....

There appears to be a lot of hyper-masculine posturing to his writing, everything from talking about how badass every kitchen is (apparently all kitchen workers are drug addicted, tattoo'd, burn resistant handed badasses), to sexual prowess (ironically, Bourdain's only direct sexual "encounter" was the cook he was working with mock fingering his ass through his pants - not something to be proud of), to the fact that he will not let anyone listen to Billy Joel or Elton John in his kitchen.  Not to mention his disdain for vegetarianism.  Strike 1

Pitch 2.....

He does, however, occasionally exercise some humility and reverence when referring to chefs or people he admires.  Ball 1

Pitch 3......

He slams celebrity chefs like Emeril Lagasse and Bobby Flay, but I still don't understand why he doesn't like them - perhaps he thinks their craft is compromised by commercialism, but then he hypocritically says that had he been at a certain level, maybe he'd be a Food Network star too.  Strike 2

Pitch 4......

Shit, I can't remember where I was going with this whole analogy thing, nor do I have any more opinions about this book.  I think his arrogance put me off a little bit, and I wonder if he judiciously exercised hyperbole.  Nonetheless, I think if I were uninitiated, I would have found some of the things he talked about shocking and interesting, but I got the gist of kitchen life through Sous Chef, which was a very similar read, only without the arrogance.

Sadly, Bourdain is no longer with us, having taken his own life.  I wish he was able to conquer his demons and/or his drug use.

It was a fairly enjoyable book to read from the perspective of being interesting, but as far as personalities go, and delving into the mind of someone to be inspired by, I think I prefer reading more positive approaches to life, from bios by people like Shep Gordon, Leah Remini, etc.

I Loved You At Your Darkest - Behemoth

 I've been looking forward to this album for a long time.  It came out today, and I'll do a stream of consciousness review as I'm listening to each track......

Solve - A very cool start to this album.  It begins with chanting children and the band soon comes in with a killer intro.  I love drummer Inferno's fills - they remind me of my favorite Behemoth album - Demigod.

Wolves ov Siberia - I got to see this song live when they opened for Slayer.  The chord structure reminds me of their Apostasy-era songs, but the blast beats in the verses remind me more of traditional black metal.  This song translated really well live and I really love the orchestral stuff near the end - more an element to enhance the music, ala Nile, rather than classical virtuosity stuff like Fleshgod Apocalypse or Abigail Williams.

God = Dog - This song sounds evil.  The drumming is very creative, which is what I love about Inferno.  Nergal's vocals sound like his old stuff.  I love the production of this song and album - very clear.  I loved the layered vocals in their older stuff.  I wish they did that here.  I wonder who's singing the choir sounding stuff.

Ecclesia Diabolica Catholica - This song has the kind of drumming that made me lose interest in Behemoth before The Satanist came out.  It's very straightforward double kick, but perhaps it's growing on me as a different sound for them.  With extreme music, I mostly like a lot of changes - I think I get that from my love of Cryptopsy's "None So Vile".  This song is kind of straight ahead driving.  Oh wait now, check out this ending.....  acoustic guitars that go into a different end section.  Black metal blast beats - that's pretty cool.

Bartzabel - Whoa, a slow intro.  Damn, those toms sound huge.  I love Orion's bass sound.  Cool song.  Heavy as fuck when the loud section comes in, and then it drops back again.  More of those weird classical vocals - not sure if I like them, but they change up the song.  A lot of times, a slow song breaks up an album in a bad way - that's

If Crucifixion Was Not Enough - Cool, a punk rock beat!  Something different for Behemoth.  Works pretty good with the arpeggiated guitars.  Nergal really has a unique style of writing.  I think he's one of the few guys that write guitar riffs that sound both evocative of his influences and unique at the same time.  Seth's (I think it's his) guitar solo is killer and I wish he shredded more of the other songs, but that's not really a huge part of the Behemoth sound.

Angelvs XIII - Where the hell do they get these song titles from?  Aah, there are those Inferno drum fills that I love.  I'm wondering if this album sounds disjointed, or interesting?  Maybe if Inferno played the same beats for the whole album it would be boring.  Oh, there are those layered vocals that I love.  This might be my favorite song on the album.

Sabbath Mater - More classic Behemoth goodness (evilness?).  Oh wait, there's that double kick beat.  Hmmm....  now there's that punk beat.  Cool high tom fill.  Damn, Nergal's vocals are near perfect.  This is the best he's ever sounded.  He's definitely my favorite death / black metal vocalist.  I think that's what I don't like about a lot of black metal - the vocals are too "high".  Nergal never sounds like the Exorcist, but then his vocals aren't just pure low growl like Glen Benton or Corpsegrinder (both of whom I absolutely love).

Havohej Pantocrator - Another slow intro.  Sounds like a mood piece in the beginning.  Now it goes into a standard slow dirge type Behemoth piece.  I like this one - it breaks up the album pretty well.  Wow, they've really matured as songwriters.  Cool blast beats in the middle.  This is pretty epic sounding.  Maybe this is my favorite song on the album.  :)

Rom 5:8 - Another slow song with blastbeats throughout.  I like this style.  It's much more black metal than death metal, but it has more depth than a lot of black metal, or at least what I've heard.

We Are The Next 1000 Years - This sounds more traditional black metal.  I think this would satisfy guys that are into Immortal and Gorgoroth, though it's a little more atmospheric and pop.

Coagvla - Good closer for the album.  Blast beat fest with orchestral parts.  I can totally see them closing shows with this.  I'm headbanging to this as I'm listening to it.

This is a solid album!  Having just seen them opening for Slayer, I have a renewed interest in their new music.  I've always loved Demigod and The Apostasy, but I didn't like The Satanist as much, even though it's a great album.  I think they strayed too much from the Death Metal aspect of their music and got more Black Metal.  While I love BM, I love Behemoth because of the balance they achieve between the two.  This album feels like a return to form for me.

stuff to check out

Lizzo
Cardi B
Pusha T
Childish Gambino
A$AP Rocky
Valee
Drake
Tyler, The Creator
Vince Staples

Long Beach Cambodian Rap

CS
$tupid Young
Tee Cambo
Sneezy Tweet

Best (non-metal) albums of the 2000s

Sometimes I listen to music other than metal.  Here are my top 21 favorite non-metal albums of the 2000s, in order from oldest to newest.  The year 2000 is a pretty good cut off date for me in terms of music because it represents the end of an era of music (the 90s) that I really loved, having played in cover bands in the 90s.  My post 2000 album list consists of a few popular things, and a bunch of obscurity.

1. Hybrid Theory - Linkin Park (2000)
2. Magic Line - Stellar* (2001)
3. More Than You Think You Are - Matchbox Twenty (2002)
4. Futures - Jimmy Eat World (2004)
5. In Your Honor - Foo Fighters (2005)
6. Something Like Strangers - Stellar* (2006)
7. The Black Parade - My Chemical Romance (2006)
8. Chase This Light - Jimmy Eat World (2007)
9. Pretty.  Odd. - Panic! at the Disco (2008)
10. The Resistance - Muse (2009)
11. How I Got Over - The Roots (2010)
12. Right Here - Boh Runga (2010)
13. Undun - The Roots (2011)
14. Vices and Virtues - Panic! at the Disco (2011)
15. Wasting Light - Foo Fighters (2011)
16. Vessel - Twenty One Pilots (2012)
17. Vibrato - Paul Gilbert (2012)
18. The 2nd Law - Muse (2012)
19. Sonic Highways - Foo Fighters (2014) 
20. Death of a Bachelor - Panic! at the Disco (2016)
21. After Laughter - Paramore (2017)

Vibrato - Paul Gilbert

This album blows me away!!

Paul Gilbert is one of my favorite technical guitar players.  He plays with clean technique, and has beautiful phrasing and an almost classic sensibility.  Though he got his start as a Shrapnel Records-styled shredder in the 80s (super fast, flashy, Yngwie-influenced, metal), his love of 70s pop music influences his current musical direction.

Vibrato is a great album that reflects his diversity as both a guitarist and songwriter, yet each song is distinctively Paul Gilbert.  It's overall very progressive and jazzy - like a cross between Todd Rundgren, Steely Dan, the more progressive side of the Allman Brothers, Return the Forever, etc.

An oddball album that maybe isn't his most popular, it's not only one of my favorite Paul Gilbert albums, but one of my favorite non-metal albums of the 2000s.

I don't like to throw out superlatives at the risk of sounding like I'm praising everything, but I can comfortably say that this album is genius!!

Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro

I don't read a lot of fiction.  Of the 89 books I've read over the past year and a half, only 18 were fiction - the majority of the remainder being non-fiction and a few poetry books.

I've read Ishiguro's "Remains of the Day", "Nocturnes", and "Never Let Me Go".  Of the three, "Never Let Me Go" is the best of Ishiguro that I've read so far, and ranks up there among the best of my limited read fiction among all authors.  I think it might be tied with Orwell's "1984" for my favorite novel of all time.

Though his writing style is sometimes pandering in the cliffhanger chapter endings, it was still quite enjoyable and touching.  I don't want to give anything away, so let's just say that it revolves around three central characters and their experiences as they grow together.

It was deep, contemplative, and sad.  I guess that's what I like in a book, as that was also the theme of 1984.

Overtures of Blasphemy - Deicide

I'm SUPER excited for this album to be released on September 14th!!  The music sounds a lot like my favorite Deicide album "The Stench of Redemption".  They've had some misses in the years since that album, but this one sounds like that album from the production and songwriting standpoint.  Plus the over-the-top satanic lyrics are hilarious!

We Bare Bears

My daughter turned me on to this cartoon recently.  It's a great cartoon - funny, sometimes touching, a little crazy, and just slightly weird.

It's my new favorite cartoon!

Aristotle for Everybody - Mortimer J. Adler

Ugh.  I'm not sure what I didn't like about this audiobook.

Perhaps it was that the reader sounded like a pretentious asshole.  I'm also wondering if the content was truly representative of Aristotle's philosophy - as this book just seemed to define some really common things like contradiction, ideas versus actuality, etc.  In that sense it was almost a waste of time.

I also found some concepts strange and not what I believe, which blows my mind because I can't imagine that I am more insightful than the father of modern philosophy.  I'll have to explore other books about the teaching of Aristotle to have a firm conclusion about that.

Aristotle in 90 Minutes - Paul Strathern

I listened to this after I enjoyed Socrates in 90 Minutes.  It was a good biography but didn't touch much on his actual philosophy.

A Higher Loyalty - James Comey

This was a really well written book by Comey, the former Deputy Attorney General and later FBI director.

He seems earnest, but there is still some part of me that thinks that he is justifying the actions he took as FBI leader which some claim cost Hillary Clinton the presidential election.

In this book, he talks about growing up on the east coast, and his stints as Deputy AG under the Bush administration where he had to deal with the legality of torture, FBI director under Obama where he had to deal with Martha Stewart's insider trading and Clinton's e-mail "scandal", and then as FBI director under Trump, arguably the most interesting part of the book.

I still loved reading it despite my hesitation that it might be one huge justification of the whole Clinton thing - in general I think it is pretty truthful but perhaps slanted on that one subject.

Team of Rivals - Doris Kearns Goodwin

This was a really great audiobook that described Lincoln's time in the White House and the problems and successes he had during the Civil War, particularly with his cabinet, who are the team of rivals.

A friend recommended this book, telling me that she was reading it while waiting for a flight at LAX, when Warren Christopher, former secretary of state, sat next to her and said it is his favorite book.

The book was inspirational because Lincoln maintained a sense of calm and composure despite all of the backstabbing and problems he was faced with.  That's one of the many ways in which he was a great leader.  It was also inspiring in that he was a bit awkward, but that didn't affect his leadership.

I discovered later that the audiobook was an abridged version of the book, and the book is a LOT longer.  I intend to read the book but I'm sure it will take a long time.

Vogg

Vogg is an amazing guitar player.  He plays great lead guitar, and writes some super cool and complex riffs.

I had initially written off Decapitated as a generic death metal band, but as their albums went on, they really came into a unique style.  Their album "Blood Mantra" from 2014 has now become one of my favorite albums of all time.

I've been learning one of the riffs from "Instinct" from "Blood Mantra" and it is so killer.

He doesn't seem to get much critical acclaim, but I think he is one of the top metal guitar players out today.

Supermensch

This was the movie based off of Shep's book "They Call Me Supermensch", or is it the other way around?  I liked the book a lot more than the movie.  The movie required a lot of video imagery that was culled from other video footage that was of similar content, but not related directly to Gordon so in some ways it was misleading.

Also, certain details that Gordon went into in the book were left out for brevity's sake, but changed some of the implications.  Overall it was a good movie though, and I got to see people described in the book that I hadn't seen - particularly his hanai family.

They Call Me Supermensch - Shep Gordon

This was a great biography about Shep Gordon, who had a huge hand in the career of Alice Cooper, Anne Murray, and later, celebrity chefs like Emeril LaGasse.  It's an honest and introspective biography where Shep talks about his successes in the entertainment industry, and his misgivings about not starting a family of his own.

I particularly loved the section where he talked about cooking for the Dalai Lama.  I think anyone who incorporates some of the Dalai Lama's teaching into his life shares a common bond with me.

I really enjoyed listening to this audiobook, which was read by Shep himself.  He has a pretty calm reading style but never bores you.

Hired Gun

This was a super cool movie about musicians that play in the shadows, along the lines of "Twenty Feet From Stardom".  Unlike that movie though, I could really relate to "Hired Gun" because I am a guitarist and songwriter and producer.

Some of the stories were a little sad, most were positive and cool.  A lot of my favorite musicians were featured like Phil X and Justin Derrico, and I learned about Jason Hook, who is a great guitar player.

I loved this movie!

The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a Fuck - Sarah Knight

This is a typical self-help book, but written as a parody of Marie Kondo's "The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up".  Kondo's book is a good, if not just a little weird (see my review somewhere else on this blog).

In this book, Knight talks about "not giving a fuck", but obviously by the use of vulgarity, it's taking a bit of a negative perspective on not caring about things.  And it's weird, because it's advocating something that I think is more positive.....  to not worry about what other people think, etc.

I don't know that I buy her perspective, but I think overall it's better to not worry so much about things like attending events that you don't want to go to, etc.

It is an interesting perspective though, and like any book, you take from it what you want to.  My friend asked me how a book like this reconciles with the teachings of the Dalai Lama, and I think if you read it a certain way, there is a theme of letting things go that permeates both this book, and the teachings of the Dalai Lama.

I'd give this a 7 / 10.

Pantera live 1992

Geez, this is the best Pantera bootleg video I've ever seen, possibly even the best Pantera live video I've ever seen.

Plane entertainment

E-books:

Audiobooks:
The Art of Happiness

Movies:
Hired Gun

Lessons:
Japanese

Guardians of the Galaxy Awesome Mix

I had a pretty good childhood, and music reminds me of those times.  I grew up in the AM radio days of early Elton John, Wings, Bee Gees, and other pop radio hits.

Guardians of the Galaxy has so much good music that takes me back to vacations with my family in California....  Brandy by Looking Glass, Southern Nights by Glen Campbell.....

I think it's pretty cool that a movie that my son got me to watch brings me back to my youth.  Especially since I don't listen to old music, and I don't listen to anything other than heavy metal most of the time.

Churchill & Orwell: The Fight For Freedom

This was a good book, recommended by a friend.  Though some of the book focused on the biographies of Churchill and Orwell, much of the middle of the book talked about the events leading to World War 2, which were really interesting.  I learned that the ruling party in England was advocating appeasement of the Nazis, which Churchill was against.  I also learned of England's disdain for Americans, though Churchill said nice things in public about Americans to garner their help in the war.  I also learned about Russia's role in the war, and their initial pact with the Germans.

I was expecting much more interrelation between their stories, but the book was more about how their individual efforts reflected what was happening at the time.

Binge watching Marvel movies

It's not hip to watch Marvel movies, but it's fun!!  My son and I have tickets for the very first showing of Avengers: Infinity War on the day before the opening day, and he asked me to catch up with him on the backstory by renting and watching several preceding movies that provide a background for Infinity War.

I watched Doctor Strange.  I thought the special effects were pretty good, but the Doctor Strange character was not really that believable in that he was too sarcastic, which I think a rational person would be able to temper given the risks that that behavior would provide and his desire to fix his fingers.  I also thought he came into power too quickly, and that the magical books in the library would have been more secured.  Overall, not Marvel's best movie, and in fact maybe one of the worst I've seen from them.  I'd give it a 6 stars.

I hadn't read the Guardians comics when they first came out, so knew nothing about their story.  I enjoyed this movie, but Disney seems to rehash the Star Wars formula of invasion of a destroying spaceship with simultaneous dogfight and hand-to-hand fighting scenes.  But maybe that formula still works for me because I enjoyed it in this movie, as I did in Black Panther.  8 stars.

Eh, this one was just alright too.  Weird that such epic things happened, yet it was still so silly.  Thor's father Odin died, he lost his hammer and his eye, and his home Aasgard got destroyed, and yet he can still have silly banter with the Hulk.

2018 metal albums

So far, the new Harms Way album is my top pick for 2018, but I saw on Nails' Instagram feed that they love these new albums, so I'll check them out today:

With Inexorable Suffering by Our Place of Worship is Silence:

Devouring Mortality by Skeletal Remains:

Animal Farm - George Orwell

I really loved 1984, so I guess I expected a lot from Animal Farm.  I suppose I was a little disappointed, for a number of reasons.  First of all, as a story that replaces animals for people in a revolution, it was only moderately interesting.  Second, it was predictable just about from the start, and sad in it's dystopian outlook.  Unlike in 1984, when there was some redemption in the sadness of Winston's insanity, it was harder to relate to the characters in Animal Farm as they were so one-dimensional.

I don't get why this is a classic, but I'll still give it a 7/10.

The History of Love - Nicole Strauss

I was blown away by this book!!  It was slightly confusing and moved in many different ways, and the ending leaves a lot of room for interpretation, but I found my interpretation and meaning, and even found a little life lesson.

It's a beautifully written book, and thought-provoking, both in a self-reflecting way, and for the analysis of the story line.

Socrates in 90 Minutes - Paul Strathern

This was a really quick audiobook that explained Socrates' life, as well as his philosophy.  I really enjoyed it.  Though I took Philosophy 101 in college, I wasn't aware of Socrates' influence on the school of thought - specifically that his "dialectic", his style of discourse, and his approach to thinking in terms of rational thought and observation, had forever changed the way that people thought about things.

Prior to Socrates, much of the "sciences" were explained in terms of mythology and religion, whereas post Socrates thought was rooted in observation and rationalization.  As soon as astronomic philosophy converted over to an observation based field, it became a science, and soon many studies were converted over to "sciences".  But the semantics are not as important as the fact that conceptually, there was a revolution in the way that people thought - without dogma, and with rationality.  In fact, the first university was founded by Socrates student, Plato.

I always loved the Socratic Paradox - "I know that I know nothing".  It's the way I try to live my life, and the purpose for this blog.  In this spirit, I have so much more to learn about Socrates and his teachings, so I give this book a 10/10 for reintroducing me to Socrates and for invigorating my desire to learn more.

Ikigai - Hector Garcia and Francesc Miralles

I can't remember how I happened upon this book.  It may have been through the last book I read - Flow.

I had previously understood Ikigai to be the Japanese term for "purpose" in life, but in this book, the authors don't seem to differentiate Ikigai from things like eating well and exercising, and in fact give examples of both.  Dan Buettner, in his Blue Zones books, makes Ikigai a separate concept, so I'm still not sure I understand the true meaning of the term.

Semantics aside, I think it's a great book for learning how to be happy and live a long time.  It dovetails right in there with the other books I've read.  What makes this book different from the others is that they provide examples of physical exercises or different kinds of food to eat.

Incorporated into my collection of books on how to optimize life, this is a great addition.

What I would listen to if I had 20 hours of car rides

I'll probably listen to all of these on my upcoming vacation since there will be lots of car rides.

1. Reign In Blood - Slayer
2. Demigod - Behemoth
3. You Will Never Be One Of Us - Nails
4. Blood Mantra - Decapitated
5. Nightmare Logic - Power Trip
6. The Impossibility of Reason - Chimaira
7. Perserverence - Hatebreed
8. Posthuman - Harms Way
9. Tyranny of Will - Iron Reagan
10. Beneath The Remains - Sepultura
11. Vulgar Display of Power - Pantera
12. Slaughter of the Soul - At The Gates 

Also, these might be cool:

1. Revolver - The Haunted
2. Svart - Feared
3. Beast - Despised Icon
4. Born Hanged / Falsifier - Black Tongue
5. Nightbringers - The Black Dahlia Murder

Whoa, this video was really good, and connected with me

The history of death metal

I think it would be interesting to trace the history of death metal by listening to the important albums that shaped death metal through the 80s and early 90s.  I plan to listen to the following albums from start to finish, chronologically to hear the evolution album by album.  I've never heard some of these albums all the way through, so I think it would be fun.

title	artist	year
welcome to hell	venom	1981
black metal	venom	1982
show no mercy	slayer	1983
morbid tales	celtic frost	1984
to mega therion	celtic frost	1985
hell awaits	slayer	1985
endless pain	kreator	1985
seven churches	possessed	1985
reign in blood	slayer	1986
scream bloody gore	death	1987
leprosy	death	1988
slowly we rot	obituary	1989
severed survival	autopsy	1989
altars of madness	morbid angel	1989
deicide	deicide	1990
left hand path	entombed	1990
human	death	1991
blessed are the sick	morbid angel	1991
necrotism - descanting the insalubrious	carcass	1991
effigy of the forgotten	suffocation	1991
clandestine	entombed	1991
butchered at birth	cannibal corpse	1991

So far I've

Flow - Mihaly Csikszentmihaly

This was a great book that talked about optimizing life through control of one's consciousness.  Much of the book talked about examples, rather than "how-tos", but perhaps the intent was inspiration.  In any case, this was a really great book that teaches how "autotelic personalities" reduce "psychic entropy" through "flow" - the ability to experience life with unimpeded joy and concentration.

Understanding Japan: A Cultural History - Mark J. Ravina

This is an excellent set of lectures about the history of Japan.  Ravina goes through different topics, such as trade with Chinese and Koreans, theater, gardens, language, and ends with the events of 1989 that forever changed the course of Japan.

I didn't think I'd enjoy these lectures, as the last time I sat through lectures about history was in college, and I hated them then.  I've gotten old.  :)

Ghosts of the Tsunami - Richard Lloyd Parry

In this book, Parry talks about the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, and the devastation that the tsunami caused.  The primary focus is the death of students at Okawa Elementary, and the after effects.

It was very sad, but also illuminating of Japanese culture and to that end, it was very interesting.  I felt that the brief sections on ghosts and possessions was almost gratuitous, and perhaps didn't need to be in the story.  More interesting was the determination of the parents to find their children, and the government's unwillingness to take responsibility for the deaths, which were preventable and attributed to negligence on the part of the administration.

It was also interesting that the author worked in the election of Shinzo Abe as Prime Minister.  It almost seemed unrelated to the aftereffects of the Tsunami, but perhaps represented a shift in the way the Japanese saw their government, much like what the U.S. is going through now.

I wasn't sure if I'd like is as much as I did, but it was a good book.

The best metal albums, by year

1986
Reign In Blood - Slayer

1989
Beneath The Remains - Sepultura


1990
Cowboys From Hell - Pantera

1991
Arise - Sepultura

1992
Vulgar Display of Power - Pantera

1993
Heartwork - Carcass
Hollowman - Entombed

1994
Far Beyond Driven - Pantera

1995
Slaughter of the Soul - At The Gates

1996
None So Vile - Cryptopsy

1999
Slipknot - Slipknot

2000
Wages of Sin - Arch Enemy
Killswitch Engage - Killswitch Engage

2001
Iowa - Slipknot

2002
In Their Darkened Shrines - Nile

2003
Anthems of Rebellion - Arch Enemy
The Impossibility of Reason - Chimaira

2004
Demigod - Behemoth
The Wretched Spawn - Cannibal Corpse
Epitaph - Necrophagist

2005
Doomsday Machine - Arch Enemy
I, Monarch - Hate Eternal

2006
The Stench of Redemption - Deicide
AssassiNation - Krisiun

2007
Icons of Evil - Vital Remains
Inflikted - Cavalera Conspiracy
The Apostasy - Behemoth
Xenosapien - Cephalic Carnage
The Atrocity Exhibition - Exhibit A - Exodus

2011
Carnival Is Forever - Decapitated

2012
To Hell With God - Deicide

2013
Bu-Tik - Chthonic


2014
Blood Mantra - Decapitated
The Tyranny of Will - Iron Reagan

2016
You Will Never Be One Of Us Nails

2017
Psychosis - Cavalera Conspiracy
Nightmare Logic - Power Trip
Anticult - Decapitated

2018
Posthuman - Harms Way

Heidi Joubert

Maybe this isn't the best video of her, but Heidi Joubert just totally blows me away.  She is an amazing hand percussionist and singer.  So talented and charismatic.  If and when I ever get a cajon, I plan to follow her instructional videos.  She really inspires me!

My favorite things so far this year

It's only March, and there are so many things that I really enjoyed:

Why We Sleep book
Harms Way album
Black Panther movie
The Remains of the Day book
Paramore concert
Love Her Wild poetry book
James and the Giant Peach play

James and the Giant Peach

My son played the role of the Centipede in CTAA's production of James and the Giant Peach this weekend.

I am not a huge fan of musicals.  I've seen maybe 3 professional musicals in my life - A Chorus Line on Broadway, The Lion King in Honolulu, and Big Fish in Chicago.  Oh, and if you count it (I do), I saw Othello: The Remix at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater, so make that 4.

I've also seen too many local productions to count - mostly from my kids' performances in various studios.

It's not exaggerating to say that CTAA's production of James and the Giant Peach ranks up there with some of the professional productions.

First and foremost, the actors and actresses playing the parts were not only perfectly cast, but they were all very talented and entertaining.  On the surface, the story was wacky and whimsical (a boy accidentally spills a magic potion on a peach tree, growing a peach and various insects huge), but the story was a vehicle for the characters to grow, learn to trust, and find in themselves a family.

The songs were wonderful and some were very touching.  I saw the production twice.  I wish I had seen it for all 4 showings - it was that good!!

The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby tops a lot of all-time best fiction lists, and since I've never read it, I felt it was time to read the classics.

Fitzgerald is a talented writer.  I found the story to be mildly but not overly interesting.  This is one of those books that has it's intrinsic value in style over the message or story.  I didn't much develop an affinity for any of the characters, certainly not for the narrator Nick, nor did I see a lot of character development other than maybe Daisy.

It was okay.  Not what I would put on a must-read fiction list, but maybe I just don't get it.

Jim Adkins

Despite being a guitar player, I've always been way more into good songs that guitar playing for the sake of guitar playing.  I mean, I also enjoy a good technical shredder and I love playing fast metal guitar, but I just love good songs.

I find that there are guitarists that, instead of being shredders, just write really cool riffs and cool parts.  Jim Adkins, the guitarist and singer of Jimmy Eat World, is one of those guys.  He writes great songs, and his parts fit in so well and are more than just strummy stuff.  Chase This Light is one of my favorite albums of all time, start to finish.

Death Note

I finished the 12-book series.  It was good and I can see why it was so popular in Japan, even though there was a story arc that seemed to dead end with no reason or explanation.  It was a little confusing in the last 4 books, possibly due to my inattention to certain details.  Overall it was a worth reading, though I don't know if I am a convert to manga just yet.

Love Her Wild - Atticus

Love Her Wild is a collection of poems, separated into three distinct sections - Love, Her and Wild.  I really enjoy his poetry.  I will seek out more by this talented poet.

Nocturnes - Kazuo Ishiguro

Having read and really enjoyed "Remains of the Day", I wanted to explore Ishiguro's other works.  Unfortunately, "Nocturnes" fell a little flat to me.  The book was a collection of five relatively short stories, but they didn't invoke reflection from me, even though the stories were close to my heart.

Despite the lack of resonance, I still think that Ishiguro is a great writer and story teller, and clearly well versed in his technical understanding of music, as well as knowledge of popular music.

Today's guilty pleasure

I used to love this album.  Then I couldn't stand it.  I'm on and off with Gary Cherone's voice, but I've always loved Nuno Bettencourt's playing.  I guess being that Nuno is a huge Beatles and Queen fan, it would make sense for him to have Cherone singing.

Cherone's singing is cheesy to me.  He retains all of the campiness of a larger-than-life singer, with none of the coolness.  I cringe when I watch him perform.

But I don't listen to Extreme for the lead vocals.  They have great songs, the guitar playing is jaw-dropping, and the harmony vocals are sweet.  Nuno is one of my favorite guitar players that was active in the late 80s/early 90s....  and I feel he passed the mantle to Dimebag for badass EVH influenced guitar playing.

I go back and visit this album from time to time, but it's sometimes hard to listen to.  I had to wash my ears out with death metal.  :)

James and the Giant Peach - Roald Dahl

My son will be performing as the Centipede in a production of James and the Giant Peach in a few weeks, so I wanted to read the book.

Roald Dahl also wrote "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory", which was my favorite book as a kid.  James and the Giant Peach was equally strange, with interesting but odd characters.  Dahl is a great and imaginative writer, and I enjoyed this book!

The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro

I heard from a friend that Ishiguro won the Nobel prize for literature, and won the Man Booker Prize for The Remains of the Day.  My unfamiliarity with Ishiguro made me wonder how a Japanese man could write about an English butler in a compelling and award winning way.  But my mistake was in assuming that he is Japanese.  Rather, moving to England as a 5-year old, his nationality was British while his ethnicity was Japanese (lesson - don't assume one's nationality by his/her name).


The subject matter of this book was interesting, but there weren't any grand or dramatic occurrences.  I think the mark of a memorable book is how the main character is multi-dimensional and develops throughout the book, and the main character in this book, Mr. Stevens, hits that mark, as he contemplates his life in service as a butler to Lord Darlington and later to Mr. Farraday in Darlington Hall.  The story is based in his present time spent on an expedition to see Ms. Kenton, a former maid in Darlington Hall, though much of the book is a recollection of his previous years working with Ms. Kenton.

It's a beautifully written book.  Though I don't read a lot of fiction, I felt that this was the best fiction I've read since 1984, and I totally understand why it won awards and was made into a movie.

On an odd note....  this audiobook was read by Simon Prebble, who also read the audiobook for 1984 that I listened to last year.  These two happen to be my two favorite fiction books.  But since 1984 had a huge impact on me, I associate Prebble's voice with Winston from 1984, a tortured soul.  To heard "Winston's" voice narrating Mr. Stevens was initially unnerving, but I got used to it.

Alissa from Arch Enemy on veganism

Pretty cool interview from the singer of a band that I love.

Another Paramore post

I was caught off guard.

I listen to metal, almost exclusively these days.  Prior to this album, I was listening to a steady rotation of Harm's Way, Nails, Power Trip, Iron Reagan, etc.

The only time I listen to anything else is when my daughter plays stuff in the car.  I know she likes Paramore, so I took her to the concert (see previous post).

In preparation for the show, I put a playlist together, and just totally got into this band.  Their songs are amazing, and the guitar playing is inventive and unusual, but always appropriate for the song.

After Laughter is a great album.  Like their most recent stuff, the songs are bass driven in a Motown kind of way.  I'm sure this had something to do with producer Justin Meldal-Johnsen, who is an experienced bass player who has played with Beck and Nine Inch Nails.

I think after listening to so much heavy stuff, it's refreshing for me to listen to stuff that has guitar playing that's subtly awesome.  Paramore has that in spades.

Oh, and Hayley Williams is a pretty good singer too.  :)

Paramore

 We went to see Paramore live this weekend.  They put on an amazing show - they were all very tight as a band, and the songs were incredible, and they had so much charisma on stage.

Hayley Williams is an amazing singer and frontwoman.  This was the last stop on their tour but her voice was none worse for the wear.  She belted out every song like it was their first tour.

Taylor York is a great guitarist and a fantastic showman.  It was so entertaining to watch him.  I also love his guitar playing - very inventive in the context of pop songs.  The guitar tones sounded very midrangy as we were listening to them sound checking, but in the mix, they sat perfectly.

Zac Farro was a super solid drummer and through the band's recordings, I've found him to be very inventive.  The drum sound at the venue was great, though overall the sound was kind of mediocre.  He also stepped out to sing a song by his band Halfnoise.

In preparation for the concert, I had listened to their entire setlist and loved the material.  I also read about the band's history, and about how Williams wanted this to be a band effort rather than a solo project, despite her being personally signed to a record label.  Listening to the songs and the efforts by the musicians, I can understand why.  They are all very inventive musicians, and I like how the later material is very bass driven.  In fact, it's not a surprise that songs like "Ain't It Fun", with the really cool bass line, were produced by Justin Meldel Johnson, a bass player himself.

I might be late to the game, but I'm now a big Paramore fan.

Fury - Ektomorf

I've heard some Ektomorf in the past and really like them.  The lead singer and guitarist is not shy to show his Max Cavalera influence, both visually (camo ESP guitars) and musically.

Being a huge Max fan, I appreciate this.  I've only gotten three tracks into this album so far, but I really like it.  Hopefully it will rise to the level that the new Harms Way has and be one of my favorite albums of 2018!

Promise Me, Dad - Joe Biden

A memoir of part of this time in office, "Promise Me, Dad" is a poignant and enlightening story revolving around the decline and loss of his son Beau to brain cancer.  I learned about Biden's involvement with foreign policy, specifically the Sunni, Shiites and Kurds in Iraq, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, and the foreign aid given to the Northern Triangle (Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador).  I learned about the experimental cancer treatments given to Beau, and about Beau's legacy as Attorney General of Delaware.

Maybe most importantly, I learned about the compassion and dedication of not just Biden, but his entire family, and also of Barack Obama as he helped Joe deal with the grief of losing his son.

Through his Vice Presidency, I didn't know a lot about what Biden had done, but this book shed some light on that.  He also talks about his decision not to run for President, but in hindsight, for the good of the country, I wish he had.

It was also a story of hope - hope that you can be okay, after a loss.  This was an important message to me.

This was a great book.

Boss HM-2

The Boss HM-2 is a distortion pedal that was made in Japan between 1983-1988.  Production was moved to Taiwan between 1989-1991, after which it was discontinued.

It has recently attained cult status because of it's use on seminal metal recordings in the 90s, particularly Entombed and At The Gates.  It's seem a recent resurgence due to bands like Nails and Harm's Way.

Liking bands from both of these eras, I bought one recently.  It is a great sounding pedal, in it's crappy way, if you know what I mean.  It's not meant to emulate fat refined Marshall tone.  It's meant to be brash and obnoxious.  I love this pedal!

Simon Prebble

Upon listening to the first hour of the audiobook "Remains of the Day", by Kazuo Ishiguro, the reader sounded strangely familiar.  It occurred to me that the narrator of the butler in "Remains" reminded me of Winston from the audiobook version of "1984", and I discovered that Simon Prebble narrated both of these books.

I never thought about how much I associate certain voices with certain stories, so much so that Prebble's voice seems like Winston's actual voice to me.  That makes it slightly challenging to listen to "Remains of the Day", except that the storyline seems completely different from 1984.

Still, it's weird, because 1984 is one of my favorite books, and Prebble's voiceover is a big part of that.  He is a very good reader though!

Black Panther

We saw "Black Panther" this weekend.  It was a really good movie!  First and foremost, it was an exciting, epic movie in the modern Disney style, replete with Star Wars styled dogfight scenes, excellent sword play, and one-on-one fighting.

On another level, it was a socially aware movie that suggested that the solution to race related problems is not the arming of oppressed people - rather, it suggested positive dialog and sharing.  Maybe a little idealistic, but I thought it was an interesting suggestion.

It lacked some of the wacky humor of recent Marvel movies, but I like the contrasts of each recent Marvel Studios movie.

It Was Me All Along - Andie Mitchell

In "It Was Me All Along", Andie Mitchell talks about her eating disorders, and her life experiences that contributed to them.  It's a story of transformation, filled with a lot of stories that I think are relate able to anyone who has had any kind of troubled relationship with food.  There was a lot that of female specific issues but overall, I think this is a non-gender specific book.

I like this passage, towards the end:

"In grieving the end of our relationship, I'd gained 15 pounds.  And slowly, as I felt the balance restored, I accepted them as part of me.  Maybe I'd lose them, maybe I wouldn't.  Either way, I had to be kind to myself.  What I discovered in that year, and perhaps in all of my life, was that I am always growing, always learning.  And whenever I think I've figured it all out, I've really only just begun."


I really enjoyed this - maybe one of the better books I've read so far this year.

Dave Lombardo, again

There was a passage of this interview that really resonated with me.

"I don't like guys like that either.  I walk into a room and people don't know who I am and then I see their attitudes, and when they find out who I am they drop their guard.  'Oh, Dave, how are you?'  but before that, they had all this ego.  It's like, I don't deal with people like that.  My dad always said 'Never think you're better than anyone else' you know, and I've held that throughout my life.  I'm first a human being like everybody else.  I just have a different job.  And just because I have this job it doesn't put me in a power to treat people different or to use people.  I don't like people like that so I refuse to be one of them."

I love this statement and identify with it.  I've never felt that my job as an engineer puts me above the secretaries, or the janitor, or anyone else.  And I've never felt in any of my bands that my ability as a guitar player or leader of a group makes anyone else's opinions or preferences diminish.

For Lombardo to have this kind of humility, gives me something to aspire to.  He's one of my favorite drummers, but he's definitely a very cool human being too.

I think it's so cool that he has a shirt designed specifically for him, and I bought one of his limited edition shirts!  I want to support him in any way I can.

A beautiful bento box

I went looking for a bento box this past weekend, but couldn't find anything that I thought was really nice and had a lot of utility.  Everything at the store was plastic, and seemed to be sized for children.

Fast forward to Tuesday, and I found a beautiful okurimono (gift) left on my desk by a friend who visited Japan last year.

This bento box is perfect - two separate compartments for rice on the bottom and okazu on the top.  A beautiful gift from a good friend.

Modern Pain

While searching for Self Deconstruction albums, I found this album with the same name by a band called Modern Pain.  It's freaking awesome!